UPDATE. Panini have been in touch to reassure us that a regular World Cup 2010 sticker album will be out in the UK very soon.

As much as I was an avid Premier League sticket collector (each completed in its own binder), international tournaments would be a cause for panic. A three month window to waste as much of your mum's money as possible on stickers everytime you visited Smiths, desperately trying to get to the '50 from completion' milestone so you could 'send off'.

It was certainly a challenge and would often prove tragic, as the tournament would pass by, leaving one forever yearning for Bulent Korkmaz so Turkey could 'win' the Euro 96 'sticker league'.

Orbis World Cup 90 was the daddy of sticker albums

"A three month window to waste as much of your mum's money as possible on stickers everytime you visited Smiths, desperately trying to get to the '50 from completion' milestone so you could 'send off'."

'Sending off' was a form of cheating to me. Acceptable only as a last resort and any completion should have a Roger Maris type asterisk next to it.

Orbis World Cup 90 was an absolute behemoth of a collection, I ruined mine when I bought a box of ring reinforcers from Smith's. Had to transfer half the pages to another binder as it became too thick. I never completed the stickers bit so Panini Football 87 remains my one and only complete collection.

"UPDATE. Panini have been in touch to reassure us that a regular World Cup 2010 sticker album will be out in the UK very soon."

That's as maybe but AdrenalynXL is a step in the wrong direction. Where will it all end?

When did they become a grilled sandwich?

Dear WSC.,
What short memories. Wolves of the 1950's had wingers that could switch & play on either wing when two footedness was the order of the day - Hancocks & Mullen then Wagstaff & Hinton.
There has been no better crosser of a ball than Alan Hinton even to this day. Cloughie knew what he was doing when he signed him for Derby County.
A major tactic in the 1982 World Cup for Italia was Bruno Conti to play him on the "wrong side" of the pitch to exploit the weakness of many defenders weaker foot.

One of the best promo items were were slide chart made by Megeaprint of London. Every major company from Coca-Cola to Paddy Power to MasterCard use them to promote both the World Cup & their product you can carry them in your pocket.

All hail the Orbis 'World Cup 90' collection! I purchased all the parts and completed the ring binder but neglected the sticker side of things due pocket money constraints. I lent it to a schoolfriend in the mid-90's and never saw it again - in fairness it was in a bad state by then. I wonder what happened to it?

I know for a fact that this is one of the best nostalgic pieces of writing I've read in years. I'm getting nostalgic just thinking back to the last time I read such a nostalgic piece.